Exclusive: Heartbroken Grandparents of Missing Four-Year-Old Gus Lamont Break Their Silence as Family’s Troubled Past Revealed
- Gus’s grandparents, Josie and Shannon Murray, speak out for the first time since the little boy vanished in the South Australian outback
- The family’s complicated history is revealed, including clashes between Gus’s parents and his grandparents
- Locals urge well-wishers to stay away from the remote station as the grieving family grapples with their loss
- A single footprint in the desert scrub is the only sign of Gus since he disappeared on September 27
The grandparents of missing four-year-old August ‘Gus’ Lamont have broken their silence, revealing the family’s complicated and troubled past. Josie Murray, Gus’s grandmother, spoke exclusively to the Daily Mail, saying the family is still holding onto hope that the little boy will be found alive.
‘We’re still looking for him,’ Josie said, her voice filled with emotion. ‘You can’t help. We are still dealing with this.’
Gus vanished almost two weeks ago after playing in the yard of the remote Oak Park homestead in the South Australian outback. Huge air and land searches have failed to find any trace of him, apart from a single footprint in the desert scrub.
Police have now given up hope of finding Gus alive and have scaled back the search, switching focus to finding his body. However, Josie and her partner, Shannon Murray, are refusing to give up hope.
‘We know this family very well and they don’t want people turning up and having to just deal with that,’ a neighbour told the Adelaide Advertiser. ‘Even if the people are well-meaning and sympathetic, they just want peace and quiet and to try and work out for themselves what’s actually happened.’
The family’s complicated history has been revealed, including clashes between Gus’s parents, Jess and Joshua Lamont, and his grandparents. Josie, a transgender woman, lives with Shannon on the remote station, while Jess and Joshua have a one-year-old son, Ronnie, who is believed to live on the station with his mother.
However, Joshua does not live on the station due to family clashes with Josie. ‘Josh doesn’t think it’s safe for the kids to be out there, it’s dangerous,’ a family friend revealed.
The remote station was eerily quiet on Wednesday, with no sign of any police operation. Locals have urged well-wishers to stay away from the station, allowing the grieving family to grapple with their loss in peace.
‘I know this family very well and they don’t want people turning up and having to just deal with that,’ the neighbour said. ‘They just want to be left alone to try and work out what’s happened to Gus.’